The Freedom Flyer
3-20-15
Thank yous and Shout Outs
Thank you to all of you who have helped with the Fun Run...allowing the coaches into your classroom, letting them into the building early, sharing computers, being flexible and accomodating, and making this a fun experience and a success! We appreciate Coach Cox, Coach Vee, and Ms. Iverson for holding co-curr for all grade levels today in music. They are the most positive and flexible ladies ever! Thank you!!! Huge thank yous to Heather Grim and Stephenie for covering lunch duty today!
Shout outs:
- Cindi Spradlin for helping with a sign for parents last night at Kinder Open House
- Julie Holder for helping greet parents last night at Kinder Open House
- The Kinder Team for packing the house for Open House. Parents and students loved it!
- Kelly Iverson, Heather Grim, and Coach Vee for setting up the projector for 4th grade meeting
- Ms. Laura and her team for being amazing and working so hard with one less custodian!
- Mrs. delValle for all the work she is doing collecting money for love lines and yearbook sales
- Mrs. Shea for all her work on the yearbook she is doing
- Lynn, Stephenie, and Heather Grim for getting multiple compliments from parents in the last week for how nice, welcoming, and respectful they are to visitors.
- Nurse Wendy and Nurse Denise for their hard work with the Biggest Loser contest and Diabetes Walk!!
- Dynamic Duos for having such positive attitudes and 'stirring the pot with love' at our meeting yesterday!
Upcoming Dates:
Monday- 3:20 PM Mandatory STAAR Training for all staff. The length will be determined by level of involvement for 1st round of testing and amount of information we have to cover. It will at least last til 4:30 and for those testing most likely 5. (Just giving you a heads up.)
PTA Board Meeting 5:15 PM
Open House for 2nd-4th Grades 6-7 PM
PTA Mr. Blues Shoes 7 PM in cafeteria (promote this with your class please)
Thursday- TELPAS Reading Test in Computer Lab- lab shut until we let you know it's free. It will be a testing environment in there that day. So please be mindful when going to co-curr or restroom breaks.
Friday- Meeting with K, 1, 2, and 3 during co-curr about interventions and progress
Monday and Tuesday- STAAR Writing
Closed Campus Monday March 30th-April 3rd
How are you fostering authentic writing in your classroom?
As we continue on our journey of building a culture of literacy, we will be looking at authentic writing.
We have some great pieces of writing displayed in the hallway on our Super Powered Work bulletin board.
Authentic writing is when students write down their own thoughts, feelings, opinions, ideas, stories, and poems.
- Students write for a purpose and an audience.
- Take students through the writiting process.
- Model, model, model.
- Use picture books as a springboard for writing ideas.
Authentic writing is not when students copy from the board or fill in the blank. While there be some value in those two activities at some point, it should not be the foundation of your writing workshop.
Take some time to monitor what students are writing about in their journals. Students should be writing more now than they were at the beginning of the year or even at the end of the semester. Does the writing make sense? Can you follow a story line with a beginning, middle, and end? While journal writing can be a component of your writing workshop, it too should not be the only writing students complete during your writing workshop.
For more ideas, see the link below, take a look at the Lucy Calkins books in every grade level, or sign up for Abydos training this summer.
If you are nervous, remember you just have to write. Your students want to hear your stories, ideas, and opinions.